Bonnie recently received an email from a local casino that read: “One Day Only, Tuesday, Guaranteed Free Slot Play $20.00” We’ve received variations on this numerous times over the years from this casino. So, we marked it on the calendar and made plans to pick it up. I didn’t get such an offer but I […]
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How Important is Having Fun?
I like my life. And my life includes (currently) maybe 40 hours a month playing video poker. In the good old days, there were long periods where I averaged 200+ hours of video poker each month. That said, while video poker is not unpleasant at all to me, I do not do it because it’s […]
What Should I Say?
There was a news story recently that 11 years ago, a college professor had told Julian Edelman (currently a New England Patriot wide receiver with two Super Bowl rings) that his goal of playing football professional was unrealistic and he should try something else. The teacher recently sent Edelman an apology for doubting his passion […]
A Silly Mistake
This silly mistake happened in July while playing at the M Resort. It has been more than 10 years since I have made a similar mistake — – and I’m fortunate that this mistake was relatively small — – but let me tell you what happened and what I did about it. I had some […]
I’m Glad I Didn’t Hit It — Revisited
The Undoing Project is a recent book by Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, Liar’s Poker, and The Blind Side, among others). It follows the careers of two Israeli psychologists, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, as they break new ground and basically invent the field of Behavioral Economics. I’ve written about these guys before and one […]
How Often Do Things Happen?
Today’s paper is on simple video poker mathematics. Let’s assume you are playing a game where, on average, you hit a quad (i.e., a 4-of-a-kind) every 400 hands. Further, let’s assume you play for a total of 1,200 hands. I’ll arbitrarily say that it takes you two hours to complete the 1,200 hands. How many […]
Gardena Poker Clubs: A High-Stakes History by M...
I was raised in Gardena, California, which is about 15 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. We lived just north and west of Vermont and 135th Street. The nearest card clubs were five blocks south, at Vermont and 140th. I was born in 1947, and the clubs were “always there” when I was a kid. […]
When You Get the Run Around
There was a small drawing at Hooters Casino in Las Vegas on a Friday night ten years ago, but it could have happened anywhere. I read the rules and they stated that you could earn tickets starting at 12:01 Friday morning up until 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. drawing. It was a too-small-to-be-interesting drawing, […]
A Matter of Perspective
If you’re a computer programmer working on a video poker game, the hand A♠ Q♥ T♥ 8♠ 3♥ is equivalent to A♦ Q♣ T♣ 8♦ 3♣, but both of those are different from A♣ Q♥ T♥ 8♠ 3♥. Can you see why? The ranks of the cards are the same and in all three hands […]
Want to be a Co-Host on Gambling with an Edge?
There is a recent book from Huntington Press called Rock Vegas: Live Music Explodes in the Neon Desert, by Pat Christenson. It covers concerts in Las Vegas over the past 30 or so years. It’s not about gambling, but it is about Vegas, many players here have attended and/or are interested in musical events, […]
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